


An AkaYona Inktober, 2017

by foxinthestars



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Girls, Art, Character Death, Chibi, Child Abuse, Eye Trauma, F/M, Fan Comics, Gen, Inktober, Inktober 2017, Light on Dark Art, Other, Poison, Portraits, Sketches, Starvation, fat positivity, manga spoilers through Xing arc, variously including
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 05:49:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 32
Words: 4,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxinthestars/pseuds/foxinthestars
Summary: A series of Akatsuki no Yona fanart drawings done for Inktober 2017, using the official prompt list.  The first chapter is a table of contents.  Originally posted on Tumblr.





	1. Table of Contents

**Author's Note:**

> These pieces were originally posted to my Tumblr under the "[inktober 2017](https://fox-in-the-stars.tumblr.com/tagged/inktober2017)" tag. I'm including the original accompanying text, lightly edited.
> 
> Anyone who wants to use my work as a basis for their own fanfic, fanart, podfic, translation, etc. has my permission to do so. Just credit me as appropriate.

[1 - Swift](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28642384) (Magical Girls AU Jae-ha)  
[2 - Divided](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28642464) (Yona, Fan and Sword)  
[3 - Poison](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28642484) (Zeno and Tasty Deathberries)  
[4 - Underwater](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28642556) (Lili Swimming)  
[5 - Long](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28642616) (Jae-ha's hair)  
[6 - Sword](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28642644) (Lee Geun-tae)  
[7 - Shy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28642804) (Magical Girls AU Shin-ah with Yona and Ao)  
[8 - Crooked](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28642912) (Jae-ha Ragequits a Video Game)  
[9 - Screech](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28643016) (Gulfan and Soo-won)  
[10 - Gigantic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28643392) (Magical Girls AU Guen and Yonhi)  
[11 - Run](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28643460) (Little Yona)  
[12 - Shattered](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28643528) (Yona and Kija in [The Longest Night](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11834268), content note for character death)  
[13 - Teeming](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28644004) (Jae-ha and the Green Dragon Ghosts in [Not All Chains are Forged of Iron](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8857429))  
[14 - Fierce](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28644088) (Yona, chapter 140 redraw)  
[15 - Mysterious](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28644152) (Zeno)  
[16 - Fat](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28644492) (Yona in the style of [Thumbcramps](http://thumbcramps.tumblr.com/))  
[17 - Graceful](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28644572) (Chubby Yona, Sword Dance)  
[18 - Filthy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28644604) (Hak and a Fire Tribe child, content note for starvation in image)  
[19 - Cloud](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28644796) (Magical Girls AU Abi Sending Rain)  
[20 - Deep](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28644996) (Shin-ah and Ao the Squirrel in Blue Dragon Village)  
[21 - Furious](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28645024) (Kija)  
[22 - Trail](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28645096) (Magical Girls AU Kaya and Zeno)  
[23 - Juicy](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28645196) (Magical Girls AU Zeno and a peach)  
[24 - Blind](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28645296) (AU Jae-ha and Zeno, content notes for child abuse and eye trauma in text)  
[25 - Ship](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28646392) (Magical Girls AU Gigan)  
[26 - Squeak](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28646424) (Ao the Squirrel and a Mouse)  
[27 - Climb](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28646776) (Yunho and Geun-tae and flowers on a cliff)  
[28 - Fall](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28647088) (Yunho and Geun-tae and flowers that are tasty actually)  
[29 - United](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28647516) (Magical Girls AU Guen and Original Female Character)  
[30 - Found](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28647576) (Yona and the Four Dragons)  
[31 - Mask](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28647628) (Seiryuu Ao and Little Shin-ah's Masks)


	2. Day 1 - Swift (Magical Girls AU Jae-ha)

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007353816/in/album-72157687799944361/)

So, I’m attempting Inktober this year. I’m using the official prompt list but plan to take them all as AkaYona prompts.

Day 1 is “Swift” — so this is Jae-ha from that Magical Girls AU I often ponder and occasionally mention (in which the Dragons are the cute lil' power mascots in the form of actual dragons). His power translates into this form as Speed, so I thought of him immediately and wanted to share a little more of the said AU. (Although as you might guess, he likes to stay in human form as much as possible and actually hates for people to see him like this. Not including hair he’s probably like 3-4 feet long.)

Now, if I’m going to succeed at this Inktober thing, I believe I will have to a) keep it casual, and b) be willing to risk embarrassing myself. I kind of tried that, but I still think I was trying too hard; I have a lot of trouble making “finished” inked stuff feel as spontaneous and energetic as my sketches — here’s my preparatory pencil sketch from this morning:

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/26284337159/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Maybe I should try just dispensing with underdrawing…?


	3. Day 2 - Divided (Yona, Fan and Sword)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/24208273408/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 2!

The prompt is “Divided” — You guys, so many ways to play that with Akayona! I decided to go with the dividing line in Yona’s own life.

This time I did manage to be looser and sketchier. I didn’t manage to lose the drama, but got a result that I think is fresher, even if it is a bit clumsier, too.

Also, I’m taking “inktober” as a challenge to “ink from start to finish”, so you get to see my wonky underdrawing.


	4. Day 3 - Poison (Zeno and Tasty Deathberries)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007351846/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 3!

Today’s prompt is “Poison.” My first thought was something to do with nadai, but then I remembered a headcanon of mine — that Zeno has at least one type of poison he likes the taste of. He’s very careful not to let anyone see him eat it, though, lest they be tempted.

I had some trouble with his face; he looks too old in the middle panel and too young in the other two. I’m really proud of myself for doing a multi-panel thing, tho!


	5. Day 4 - Underwater (Lili Swimming)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/24208271988/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 4!

I had a busy day today I so sketched this one out pretty quick. The prompt was “Underwater,” and I’m convinced that the whole An family must be excellent swimmers — because it would just be too damn embarrassing if they weren’t.


	6. Day 5 - Long (Jae-ha's hair)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/24208269348/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 5!

The prompt is “Long,” which made me think of long hair — and then someone showed up demanding to be drawn, and I have a weak spot with his name on it, so here he is, showing off the long parts of his hair. (Flipping through the manga, I think the three-quarter view from his right is relatively unusual…?)

I used like a half dozen pens, too, spoiled brat. I shouldn’t complain tho, this one was fun to do. ^_~

Some of the colors did get a bit overworked, I admit (you can see the warped paper, etc). That being the case, and just because I feel like it, here’s the preparatory sketch and linework:

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007350166/in/album-72157687799944361/)


	7. Day 6 - Sword (Lee Geun-tae)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/24208268068/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 6! I’m making it further than I thought I would. I did try to keep it casual today, tho.

The prompt is “Sword,” and I was like “Okay, who’s got a cool sword?” — so here’s Geun-tae. I don’t talk about him much but he’s such a fun character. Granted “yay let’s have a war” is a doozy of a character flaw, but I love him.


	8. Day 7 - Shy (Magical Girls AU Shin-ah with Yona and Ao)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38060811011/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 7! Another quickish-roughish one; I let time get away from me today.

The prompt is “Shy,” and we are back in the Magical Girls AU (which I will indulge myself in sometimes this month even if no one else cares about it). In that one, Yona has this kind of hamper thing that she carries around on her back in case we need to hide the here-quite-literal exotic beasts in the party. And, well, some of them pop back out of it more eagerly than others.

(In case you can’t see it well, smol!dragon Shin-ah still has a mask — he’s kind of hooded like a falcon — and he has horns like the ones on his canon mask and floppy little ears like a puppy.)


	9. Day 8 - Crooked (Jae-ha Ragequits a Video Game)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/26284321659/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 8! See [here](https://fox-in-the-stars.tumblr.com/post/166200995953/fox-in-the-stars-imagineyouricon-imagine-your) for the context of the gag. ([tartan-llama](http://tartan-llama.tumblr.com/) was replying to a meme and trying to imagine Jae-ha "rage-quitting a boss in a video game because [he] thought there was some secret to taking it down, but the walkthrough says 'no just shoot it over and over.'" We agreed that Hak must have told him there was a way to win by seducing it.)

The prompt is “Crooked.” My original idea was Hak giving a crooked smile, which he does in the first couple of panels, plus you could say it was kind of a crooked setup, and my panel borders came out crooked — I have enough excuses.

And I used value level settings to get rid of most of my underdrawing this time. Like erasing smudges by hand would be cheating, but this I’ll allow.


	10. Day 9 - Screech (Gulfan and Soo-won)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38060805041/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 9!

The prompt is “Screech” and I was like “huh, who would be screeching?” — but I could think of one obvious answer. We seem to have encountered someone the royal pet does not like (maybe Gobi made it to the negotiations or something), and Soo-won’s like “What is it, girl?”*

(*I do not know if Gulfan is male or female. In any case, Soo-won trusts their judgment.)

I’m just gonna quit talking about how rough/quick/whatever these are. They’re just gonna be like that, because that’s what I can sustain. For me this is an exercise in nonperfectionism, and I think it’s good for me — like, I have to accept how imperfect my drawings are to keep it sustainable, but while doing that I’m still proud of how good they do look (even as I’m humbled by the outpouring of talent on my feed!). I’m kind of amazed; before this month I’d done very little AkaYona fanart because my perfectionism made me literally afraid to draw these characters (what if I made my babies look bad?), and now I’m just getting on with it for the most part.


	11. Day 10 - Gigantic (Magical Girls Guen and Yonhi)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/26284317949/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 10! Went with white ink on dark paper today, and I think it went pretty well.

The prompt is “Gigantic,” and I immediately knew what I wanted to do for it, but…. We are now so deep in the Magical Girls AU that this won’t even read as an AkaYona image to anyone but me, and I hesitated when labeling the characters like I usually do, like “what am I getting myself into this will take longer to explain than it did to draw” (and I forgot to sign it, darn — well, not rescanning now).

But I did label the characters and thus already took the plunge, so…

(Short version: AU Yonhi got to meet the actual dragon gods when she was little. For the sake of my sanity I only drew one of them. Long version below…)

One side effect of the way I rewrote the origin legend for this AU is that the original dragon warriors were in fact the actual dragon gods who had descended to earth. It took me an embarassingly long time to note the implication, but I finally did, and I happily decided that after their adventures they went back to their old jobs (except Zeno of course), so yeah, if our heroes ever get to meet the actual dragon gods, it’s them. When Kaya died, they also like assumed her into heaven so she’s up there hanging out with them.

But as in canon, Zeno’s still stuck on earth, so they’ve all been filling in for his job while they wait. In this AU at least, Yellow = Sky, so his job was to “paint the sky in the morning and hang the stars at night,” and well, this evening there was a little slip-up and they dropped one.

This happened when Yonhi was a little girl, and she and her father saw it fall. Dad was like “oh, dear, I’ll have to consult the astrologers in the morning,” and Yonhi was like “Dad, it just landed over there in the woods,” and he was like “don’t be silly.”

Well, she snuck out of bed that night, went out to the woods, and she had just found it when Kaya and the Dragon Bros showed up like “we need that back” and lil’ Yonhi was all like “No, I’m gonna prove to my Dad that I was right and besides he told me not to talk to strangers.” Well, some hijinks ensued, but finally Guen was the one who was like “You know us — here, recognize me now?” (For the drawing, of course his Dragon God form doesn’t look too much like his power mascot form, but in both he has ears like a lion and antlers like a moose.)

And Yonhi was like “Wow…..”

And they just made a night of it. They took her up and let her put the star back where it was supposed to go, and they ended up telling her the whole story about why the Yellow Dragon wasn’t there, and they of course had her back home to bed by morning. If she told anybody about it later, they didn’t believe her. By the time she was grown she was half-convinced herself that she’d dreamed the whole thing, but it was always a treasured memory for her, and when she turned out to be a magical girl, her superpower-unlocking fashion accessory was made with a yellow dragon scale. It’s actually customary for the magical girls to be given scales of a different color than the one associated with their tribe, like it’s said to symbolize national interdependence and unity, but she insisted on yellow. Her powers involve light and color, like Dazzle and Illusion type stuff.*

Things got messy for her later on, but she’s still a cool character in my mind — and although I’m not clear on just how it’s going to go, eventually she’s going to get to meet the little angsty sunshiney bunny dragon…

*BTW, Kaya was also a Sky-element magical girl, and her powers had more of a stars/space theme, like gravity control and space portals.


	12. Day 11 - Run (Little Yona)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38060796041/in/album-72157687799944361/)

(P)Inktober Day 11!

The prompt is “Run,” so here’s little Yona running. I was trying to keep it simple today, but I was in over my head with that little flying skirt.

And with this I’m officially a third of the way through. Wow.


	13. Day 12 - Shattered (Yona and Kija in The Longest Night, cn character death)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/24208247108/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 12!

The prompt is “Shattered” — and of course I had to take it in the sense of emotionally shattered. Went with light-on-dark again today. I also got out my doll base bodies/mannequins and they were very helpful for understanding how the poses should work. (I have a couple of 27cm Volks and Obitsu bodies from back in my Dollfie phase; this was so helpful I’m now desiring some more in different sizes to better reference characters of different statures and how they would interact.)

And! It took me this long to illustrate my own fanfic! (Well, the stuff I’ve actually written, anyway). Yes, this is from the darkest hour of “[The Longest Night](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11834268).” Brief spoilers below…

Kija essentially just dropped dead here. The whole HHB and a good chunk of White Dragon Village was there and nobody took it well, but I couldn’t draw everybody so you just get to see Yona shaking him and screaming for him to wake up. He gets better in the end but it’s a big ol’ mess and ghost!Guen is involved and… Yeah, go read the fic if you want all the gory details.


	14. Day 13 - Teeming (Jae-ha and the Green Dragon Ghosts in Not All Chains are Forged of Iron)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007332476/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 13!

The prompt is “Teeming.” White on dark again, and again I’m illustrating my own fanfic because it just seemed like the perfect scene for the prompt. Yes, this is from not-even-yet the darkest hour of [Not All Chains are Forged of Iron](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8857429), featuring Jae-ha and lots of very angry green dragon ghosts.


	15. Day 14 - Fierce (Yona, chapter 140 redraw)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007329266/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 14!

The prompt is “Fierce,” and I knew I wanted to do Yona in her Badass Mode, so here’s a redraw of a panel from chapter 140. I don’t feel 100% successful but hey, Badass Yona is a lot to measure up to. I am pleased with the selective color effect tho.

_Original post edited to add:_ I use XKit’s post shortener, so when this posted I just saw those blazing eyes peeking at me over the fold. It was all worth it just for that!

In the interest of sharing, it looked something like this:

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/24208240618/in/album-72157687799944361/)

(…and Keishuk hears the distant strains of the Jaws theme…).


	16. Day 15 - Mysterious (Zeno)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38029724562/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 15!

The prompt is “Mysterious,” so here’s our favorite mysterious boy being all mysterious with his mysterious fashion accessory.

This time I decided “well, I’ll just try doing it as a doodle,” did it this morning on my church program*, no preparatory sketch, no references, no underdrawing, no nothing, and danged if it isn’t one of my favorites so far. His face came out like exactly the way I wanted it to.

*(Don’t jump to any conclusions, I’m a Unitarian Universalist.)


	17. 16 - Fat (Yona in the style of Thumbcramps)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38029721572/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 16! Over halfway! Hat tip to [@thumbcramps](http://thumbcramps.tumblr.com/) (more below).

The prompt is “Fat,” and this is one of them where as soon as I saw the prompt list, I knew what I was going to do. Back in April, after the idea of doing AkaYona cosplay with my body shape gave me a nasty faceful of dysphoria, I tried to think if I could imagine one of the characters being shaped like me, [and I decided it was Yona](https://fox-in-the-stars.tumblr.com/post/159792770893/update-re-akayona-cosplay-and-body-image-issues) — so here’s Chubby Yona! And if I was going to draw Chubby Yona I knew I had to draw her doing something badass.

And as the day drew near, I also decided I wanted to try doing it in the style of [@thumbcramps](http://thumbcramps.tumblr.com/), because I love her stuff and she draws such gorgeous fat ladies, I thought surely I could learn something. (If nothing else I learned I have some bad habits; on the sketch I had to nudge the outlines of Yona’s waist outward several times before she was as chubby as I wanted her to be.)

Speaking of the sketch, I cheated today. Until now I’ve been taking “Inktober” to mean “Ink from start to finish” and no pencil except in preparatory sketches, but today when I did the preparatory sketch in pencil, I fell in love with it — and another, even more important rule I’ve been following this Inktober is “don’t put myself to unnecessary effort or stress,” so I did the final piece on tracing paper, effectively just inking the sketch, but doing it in a way that would a) not harm the sketch because I’d fallen in love with it, and b) sort of technically follow the rule — I never touched a pencil to the final piece!

In the interest of full disclosure, the said sketch is below. This was a fun one! Thanks, [@thumbcramps](http://thumbcramps.tumblr.com/)!

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007327076/in/album-72157687799944361/)

(On the original post, I also asked: "Tomorrow’s prompt is “Graceful,” and I have some ideas I *could* do but nothing that really excites me. Anybody got a suggestion/request?")


	18. Day 17 - Graceful (Chubby Yona, Sword Dance)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007324126/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 17!

The prompt is “Graceful.” I thought of Yona’s sword dance as a possibility and [@fallenwithstyle](http://fallenwithstyle.tumblr.com/) included it among her suggestions, but I was kind of feeling like “yeah, yeah,” so to make it interesting for myself I decided to also make it a continuation of yesterday — try to take some of the things I learned but not mimic someone else’s style this time and do it with Chubby Yona.

So here she is! I could point out a bunch of mistakes but overall I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I was so happy when everyone said she was adorable on yesterday’s post, but this time I feel like she came out serious and elegant — graceful — and it feels maybe even more unusual for a chubby character to give off that feeling, so I’m pleased. (I also still like the selective color thing.)


	19. Day 18 - Filthy (Hak and a Fire Tribe child, cn starvation in image)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007320236/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 18!

The prompt is “Filthy,” and this is another one that as soon as I saw the prompt list I had an idea for it that I remained attached to. This is Hak washing up one of the kids from the Fire Tribe villages. He’s making it into a game, which is why he’s covering the kid’s eyes and they’re both smiling (Hak is good with kids). I did feel kind of bad drawing the kid’s ribs, but given the situation I thought I’d be remiss not to. Not totally happy with how Hak’s face came out; I tried for a tilt of the head and didn’t do the greatest job with it, and I didn’t bring the element of fun out in his expression like I wanted. I do think he definitely looks like Hak, though, so I’m looking on the bright side. ^_~


	20. Day 19 - Cloud (Magical Girls AU Abi Sending Rain)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007316596/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 19!

The prompt is “Cloud,” and we’re back on the outskirts of the Magical Girls AU — the part where the broriginals were the actual dragon gods. In this AU, the Blue Dragon’s element/godly wheelhouse is Water, including precipitation, so here’s Water God Abi spreading rainclouds. — In chibi form, because I was going easy on myself today, and danged if he didn’t come out cute. ^_^

[In fact, he came out so cute that I thought this might make a good icon or something, so I cropped a nice handy square. Please remember to credit me if you use it!]

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007317376/in/album-72157687799944361/)


	21. Day 20 - Deep (Shin-ah and Ao the Squirrel in Blue Dragon Village)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38029709642/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 20!

The prompt is “Deep.” For a while I was stumped, but then I tried adding “character I haven’t drawn yet/should draw more” — and here’s Shin-ah and little Ao, deep down in Blue Dragon Village.

More white on dark, and after a little testing I’m sticking with my Sakura Gelly Roll pen for white-on-dark ink work.


	22. Day 21 - Furious (Kija)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007311926/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 21! The two-thirds mark!

The prompt is “Furious,” and here’s Kija. Kija is good at furious; as a fic writer I have to be careful not to lose sight of this fact.


	23. Day 22 - Trail (Magical Girls AU Kaya and Zeno)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007309736/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 22!

The prompt is “Trail,” and we’re back in the Magical Girls AU with AU KaZe — yes this is Magical Girl Kaya with chibi-dragon Zeno on her shoulder, and they’re like skipping around in the sky trailing stardust and magic scarf.

I tend to bog down with the dragons, so it’s about time one of my Magical Girl AU pics showed, you know, an actual Magical Girl. Kaya’s Magical Girl outfit looks relatively similar to her normal clothes because that just felt right for her; fancy armor didn’t seem like her style. But, although she may not look it, she actually has the most _effective_ armor of any of them — that robe isn’t glittery, it’s showing actual stars, and she’s essentially wearing a space portal. Somebody could shoot a cannon at her and the ball would just vanish into the ether without hurting anything.

Not sure what kinds of adventures these two got up to back in the day, but it was happy — while it lasted. Can’t take all the feels out of this. (In brainstorming this AU sometimes I’m torn like “but this one’s supposed to be cute and bowdlerized — BUT THE FEELS!”)


	24. Day 23 - Juicy (Magical Girls AU Zeno and a peach)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38029698062/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 23!

The prompt is “Juicy,” and here’s a closer view of Magical Girls AU power-mascot Zeno, enjoying a peach.

Today I was kind of like “agh, I’m tired,” but I ended up having fun with it. And I’ve come too far to give up now! A drawing a day after October will be too much, I think, but I ought to keep my hand in somehow…


	25. Day 24 - Blind (AU Jae-ha and Zeno, cn child abuse and eye trauma in text)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38029695022/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 24! Over two-thirds now! Underdrawing in green may have its disadvantages but overall I think this one turned out well.

The prompt is “Blind,” and well, you know that thing where you think up really sadistic AU ideas and they’re fun to bat around in your head but you’re like “I’ll probably never make anything with this one unless I get a prompt that’s like aimed right at it, you know?” I mean everybody does that, right? (Right?)

Well, that’s what happened and this was the prompt aimed right at the sadistic AU where I asked myself “What if for some reason Jae-ha hadn’t gotten away when Garou died? What would they do to keep him there next? I mean he can break the chains, the only person who could catch him is dead, and I think they’d rather not kill him because then they’ll just get a new one, so what would they do?” And this was my sadistic muse’s answer.

In this AU he did escape anyway by jumping blind and miraculously surviving it (not “I want to die” but “I’m getting out of here even if it kills me”) — and now here’s this mysterious stranger who’s doing this annoying “trying to act cheerful but obviously really sad like he just feels _so sorry for you_ ” thing, but on the upside he has some helpful busking tips. This AU Jae-ha did eventually end up in Awa with the pirates (because “how would the canon situation change” is more fun for me than making something up entire; he was more their spy this time), and he was still an awesome and formidable person, even though the canon/folkloric use of his power had been rendered impractical. This also leads to more culture shock for Kija — I’m thinking a dragon warrior with a physical disability is something White Dragon Village would not handle well, and Kija’s going to be a sweetie about it, mind, but well-meaningly clumsy (and if they ever went back to Green Dragon Village in this AU, I’m not sure those people would get off with just the earful Kija gave them in [Not All Chains](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8857429)…).


	26. Day 25 - Ship (Magical Girls AU Gigan)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38029691242/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 25… um… I tried?

The prompt is “Ship,” and it was rather tempting to take it in its fannish definition, but for better or for worse I went with this. Magical Girls AU again, and the thing is, several of the “magical girls” in my brainstorming are in fact magical mature women — and here’s Gigan, because seriously, how could she not be? Her powers are wind control and magic flying knives.

Unfortunately I was really tired today and trying to drag myself to get it done, then when I started adding the white it got messy, and I finally just gave up. Well, I did something today, anyway.


	27. Day 26 - Squeak (Ao the Squirrel and a Mouse)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38029681192/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 26!

The prompt is “Squeak.” After wearing myself out yesterday, today I decided to keep it simple and make it cute. Ao meets someone smaller than her, and right now she’s like “no, you can’t have this, my human gave it to me,” but she knows she should share and I think these two will end up as friends.


	28. Day 27 - Climb (Yunho and Geun-tae and flowers on a cliff)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007291736/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 27!

The prompt is “Climb,” and here’s Yunho, with Geun-tae weighing in from down below.

This is my mental draft of their “meet cute” moment. It seems like Geun-tae is a Manly Man who pays attention to Manly Man Things, so how did he Notice the girliest girl in the entire series? Well, nothing is going to keep Yunho from these cute flowers (she left her outer robe on the ground and hitched up her skirt here). And my Geun-tae muse, well, he tends toward nonchalance as long as there’s no danger to non-badasses whom he is personally responsible for, but if there is he can have a nice comical freakout. (Hilarity will ensue if they ever have kids.)


	29. Day 28 - Fall (Yunho and Geun-tae and flowers that are tasty actually)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007287816/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 28!

The prompt is “Fall,” and here are Yunho and Geun-tae again in a continuation of yesterday’s entry. She eventually hopped down and fell into his arms, since he was insisting, but it was when she omnommed that flower that he really started “falling.”

(So here she’s like “Yes, this will be lovely in a tea or salad,” and he’s like “Gah, women and their — WAIT WUT”)


	30. Day 29 - United (Magical Girls AU Guen and Original Female Character)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007283976/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 29! Only 2 days left to go!

The prompt is “United,” and I took the opportunity for one last Inktober visit to the Magical Girls AU. The magical girls are called “Dragon Guardians,” and the best magic happens when a Guardian bonds with a Dragon — the more their hearts are united, the more they both can use their powers, so here’s a pair of them.

And I just recently realized that I should really make the first-gen Guardians actual characters; only one of them has a character design yet, so here she is. This is Guen and his Guardian, Rio. For both ease and fun, I decided to base the first-gen Guardians on canon-present characters whom I’d decided were magical girls and go with a reincarnation implication, and Rio here is based on Tao*. She’s from the north, though — you can see how warmly dressed she is — and she’s really good with horses, although I didn’t feel like drawing a horse. (There may even be a not!Algira in tow who’s crazy about horses instead of kitties; I would totally buy him following her here from a previous incarnation).

Comparing these two to [Zeno and Kaya](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12575080/chapters/28645096), well, something’s going to stand out. Rio is smaller than Kaya, which doesn’t help, but Zeno is the smallest of all the power-mascot dragons, and Guen is the biggest. Old Ao was also unusually large, but not as big as Guen.

 

*(Yes, Tao is a white/earth-type Guardian, so you can all join me in the fun of imagining her going Magical Girl on Gobi’s ass.)


	31. Day 30 - Found (Yona and the Four Dragons)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/38007280476/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 30! Next-to-last one!

The prompt is “Found,” so here’s Yona and the sweet boys she went questing to find.


	32. Day 31 - Mask (Seiryuu Ao and Little Shin-ah's Masks)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/26537273@N08/26284338679/in/album-72157687799944361/)

Inktober Day 31! Last one!

The prompt is “Mask,” and I woke up early this morning and just hopped over the finish line with the simple and obvious thing. Kind of a melancholy note to end the month on, but I’m pleased with how it turned out.

And that’s it! I made it the whole month! Before this month, I wouldn’t have thought I could do it, and I think I learned some good things. Now I’ll have to see how well I hold up after it’s over…


End file.
